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Drowsy Driving
One of the leading invisible causes of road accidents. Reduced vigilance impairs reflexes and decision-making comparably to alcohol - yet cannot be measured at accident scenes.
Last revision: 19.07.2026
| 19.07.2026 | OG image redrawn in the series style |
Up to 30% of serious accidents in evening and night hours are linked to sleepiness (Prof. Mauro Manconi, EOC).
The brain progressively disengages from alertness. Microsleep episodes - lasting 1 to 30 seconds - occur without the driver's awareness. Reaction time doubles. Lane-keeping deteriorates. The body often masks the problem: a sleepy driver may feel functional until the moment of collapse.
Unlike alcohol, drowsiness has no breathalyser. It leaves no measurable trace at accident scenes. A driver can fall asleep, cause a crash, and wake up with no memory of the event. This forensic gap is one of the core problems Drive Awake addresses.
The Quinto case (A2, 2016) is the clearest example: an experienced driver, unaware of his sleep apnoea, fell asleep at the wheel. Four lives lost. He was acquitted. No test existed that could have predicted the risk.